kbutton Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Clothing is being washed on hot and dried on hot. Shoes are going in the freezer for a couple of days. Anything else I should do? I am really upset at the neighbor. It was my understanding that she had her house treated (apparently not, even though she told me that people were coming to TREAT). She asked my son if I knew about the bedbugs, and he said it was okay to be there. He's not reliable about these things, and SHE KNOWS THIS (he has some exceptionalities, and he's just not there maturity-wise).. My son does odd jobs for her (cutting grass, putting out trash, cleaning up the garage, etc.), and he concluded, wrongly, from another instance, that I was okay with him hanging out with bedbugs. ARGH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 When DH helped his parents with bedbugs, in their assisted living home (aaack!) we were paranoid and probably over cautious, but clothes were black bagged and left in a hot car. If we didn't have that option everything would have gone in the dryer on high heat for an hour before washing on hot and drying (again) on hot. And - he bathed in lice shampoo. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 http://insectsinthecity.blogspot.com/2010/03/guidelines-for-killing-bed-bugs-in.html Read the link. You need to be sure the freezer is getting the shoes down to 0 degrees and you need to be sure your dryer is getting to 120. My dryer has no temperature reading but my stuff doesn't come out very hot. I had to take my stuff to the laundromat dryers where there was a temperature reading and the clothes come out super hot (like, where zippers will almost burn you.). We had bedbugs years ago, brought home from a hotel. Those guys are hard to get rid of. I'd take his clothes out of the dryer directly into trashbags, close the openings tight, and then take them to a laundromat. Well, again unless your home dryer gets hot and you're SURE that it gets hot. Our exterminator said that many home dryers do not get hot enough. He also said that freezing is tricky because you have to be sure the entire item is completely frozen. Probably easy to do with a pair of shoes. It's when there are items with tucks and folds that the bugs can snuggle into that it's a problem. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 My understanding is that spending an hour there isn't hugely high risk. I mean, sleeping on the bed or being on the sofa if it was also infested would be not good, but if he was doing odd jobs around the house and you took the precaution of treating his clothes and so forth, I would think you did what you could and that it'll probably be okay. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 My understanding is that spending an hour there isn't hugely high risk. I mean, sleeping on the bed or being on the sofa if it was also infested would be not good, but if he was doing odd jobs around the house and you took the precaution of treating his clothes and so forth, I would think you did what you could and that it'll probably be okay. I agree that it's a slim chance he picked up any. But after having them myself, I'd take precautions. Much easier to pop the clothes into a hot dryer for a few quarters at the laundromat than to pay a few thousand to treat an infestation. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 I agree that it's a slim chance he picked up any. But after having them myself, I'd take precautions. Much easier to pop the clothes into a hot dryer for a few quarters at the laundromat than to pay a few thousand to treat an infestation. Oh, absolutely. We've had a few cases like this and I always stick everything in the dryer on the hottest heat. I meant more... she did what she needed to. Now not to freak out too much. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 Our dryer gets very hot--no temperature readings, but it gets so hot that I normally refuse to run it on it's higher settings for fear of fire hazard. Not only do zippers get untouchably hot, but the cloth itself feels alarmingly hot for a long time after coming out of the dryer. I will continue to take precautions, but I am glad to hear that his chances of picking them up are kind of slim. The stuff in the freezer will be there a couple of days, and it's a deep chest freezer. That link is good--thank you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Sounds like your dryer gets hot enough for sure. I think you're good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Our dryer gets very hot--no temperature readings, but it gets so hot that I normally refuse to run it on it's higher settings for fear of fire hazard. Not only do zippers get untouchably hot, but the cloth itself feels alarmingly hot for a long time after coming out of the dryer. You have a broken thermostat and you want to get that fixed! It could also be something like lint or something else blocking airflow, so that the otherwise working thermostat cannot sense the correct temperature. Either way, it needs fixing. If you are at all handy, it's a pretty easy thing to fix yourself most of the time. These sites can help you figure it out: http://www.partselect.com/ or http://www.repairclinic.com/vwo11/ I wouldn't blame the neighbor. She may know that he isn't that mature, but it could still be awkward to not take his word for something, kwim? I've done a lot of activities with tweens and teens over the years. The number of moms who have gotten mad at me for overestimating their kids is equalled by the number of moms who have gotten mad at me for underestimating their kids, lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalytic Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Before we knew we had bed bugs, we has just purchased a brand new van, and were in and out of it all the time. Shortly after we found out our bites were from bed bugs, we had to go visit my mom for a month, 1500 mile trip, 2 hotels. Before we left on the trip, I washed everything we were taking (shoes too) in hot water, did a double dry on the hottest setting, and then immediately double garbage bagged it. We took all tablets out of their cases and inspected them and also checked each other over thoroughly before getting in the van. NOTHING left the van at hotels, we took in a change of clothes and our dirty stuff got double bagged in more trash bags. Again, we inspected each other before we got in the van each morning. As soon as we got to my mom's, we washed and dried everything twice, and then once we put on clothes from that, we did the ones we were wearing twice. We did not ever get bed bugs in our van, and they did not show up at my mom's. That month was the first peaceful sleep we'd had in 3 months. I don't think I'd wish bed bugs on even my worst enemy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Honestly, I'd toss the shoes, and put the clothes into a double ziplock in the freezer for several months, as well as applying some preventative diotomaceous earth around the baseboards and all bedframes. Bedbugs are nothing to play around with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 You have a broken thermostat and you want to get that fixed! It could also be something like lint or something else blocking airflow, so that the otherwise working thermostat cannot sense the correct temperature. Either way, it needs fixing. If you are at all handy, it's a pretty easy thing to fix yourself most of the time. These sites can help you figure it out: http://www.partselect.com/ or http://www.repairclinic.com/vwo11/ I wouldn't blame the neighbor. She may know that he isn't that mature, but it could still be awkward to not take his word for something, kwim? I've done a lot of activities with tweens and teens over the years. The number of moms who have gotten mad at me for overestimating their kids is equalled by the number of moms who have gotten mad at me for underestimating their kids, lol. It gets hotter and colder if I turn the settings up or down. Does that still mean it's broken? The colder range is perfectly fine and does a great job drying the clothes. It did have some lint clogging it when it was passed on to us (some folks passed it on because they wanted one to match a new dryer). We cleaned it thoroughly (I am super paranoid about anything with fire potential) and have never had any more accumulation (I assume the former owners simply didn't clean the lint trap because we have zero lint accumulating). I have not checked the temperature since we made that change, so maybe it is actually not as hot as it used to be on the higher settings--will check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 That month was the first peaceful sleep we'd had in 3 months. I don't think I'd wish bed bugs on even my worst enemy! Ugh! I am one of those people that fleas like, so I think I have a ballpark idea of what bedbug torture is like on the biting end. I guess fleas aren't equal opportunity biters, but they've always liked me. (For reference, I remember having flea bites when I was a toddler, but I only vaguely remember how the chicken pox felt when I had it in about 2nd grade.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 I wouldn't blame the neighbor. She may know that he isn't that mature, but it could still be awkward to not take his word for something, kwim? I've done a lot of activities with tweens and teens over the years. The number of moms who have gotten mad at me for overestimating their kids is equalled by the number of moms who have gotten mad at me for underestimating their kids, lol. True--we get both ends--his cognitive age is about three years higher than his chronological age, and his social age is about three years younger than his chronological age. Part of my problem is that she told us a specific week she was having the house treated, so I had not warned my son about future visits (he's usually not inside). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Clothing is being washed on hot and dried on hot. Shoes are going in the freezer for a couple of days. Anything else I should do? I am really upset at the neighbor. It was my understanding that she had her house treated (apparently not, even though she told me that people were coming to TREAT). She asked my son if I knew about the bedbugs, and he said it was okay to be there. He's not reliable about these things, and SHE KNOWS THIS (he has some exceptionalities, and he's just not there maturity-wise).. My son does odd jobs for her (cutting grass, putting out trash, cleaning up the garage, etc.), and he concluded, wrongly, from another instance, that I was okay with him hanging out with bedbugs. ARGH! That kid would get naked in the garage and I would throw away his stuff (or at least bag it for awhile), and he would go directly to a hot shower with a fresh towel (that I would then bag and throw outside). I'm really careful about this stuff and disinfect everything that comes into my house. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 It gets hotter and colder if I turn the settings up or down. Does that still mean it's broken? The colder range is perfectly fine and does a great job drying the clothes. It did have some lint clogging it when it was passed on to us (some folks passed it on because they wanted one to match a new dryer). We cleaned it thoroughly (I am super paranoid about anything with fire potential) and have never had any more accumulation (I assume the former owners simply didn't clean the lint trap because we have zero lint accumulating). I have not checked the temperature since we made that change, so maybe it is actually not as hot as it used to be on the higher settings--will check. My guess would be that the lower temperature seems fine because it's actually working at the higher temperature, and you happen to have clothes that do fine at the regular, higher temperature. So, I'd still say broken thermostat: your low temperature is high, and your high temperature is super nova. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 My guess would be that the lower temperature seems fine because it's actually working at the higher temperature, and you happen to have clothes that do fine at the regular, higher temperature. So, I'd still say broken thermostat: your low temperature is high, and your high temperature is super nova. I put in a query to the company about what temperature ours should be, and I'll see if I can figure out how to measure the temperature. In the meantime, our dryer never runs unsupervised, and we line dry a lot of stuff as well. The PartSelect website looks like a winner if our temperature is off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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